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Two Indian SMEs with innovative cleantech solutions were awarded the winners of the sixth edition of WWF-India’s Climate Solver Awards held on 8th October 2018 in Delhi. Awarded by the Chief Guest, Sh. C. K. Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, Govt. of India, the two ventures – Carbon Masters India Pvt. Ltd. and Chakr Innovation Pvt. Ltd. have been conferred with the Climate Solver awards under the GHG Reduction category and have the potential to, together, substantially reduce GHG emissions, by 40 million tonnes by 2027, if implemented globally, whilst also addressing the critical environmental issues being faced in the country pertaining to air pollution and waste management. With this year’s edition, the number of Indian entrepreneurs on the Climate Solver Platform stands at 19 among the 107 honoured so far globally.

Carbon Masters India Private Limited was recognized for its innovative take on managing organic waste by collecting and converting the waste into clean fuel. Carbon Masters collects the waste generated in their bio-CNG trucks from various bulk waste generating establishments, and treats the waste anaerobically to produce methane gas and organic slurry. The gas is compressed and bottled to form Carbonlites which is used as a substitute to LPG for cooking and as fuel in vehicles, while the slurry is treated to produce organic manure which is used as a replacement to chemical fertilizers. Right from collection of segregated waste till the production of Carbonlites and organic manure, Carbon Masters ensures that it collects the organic waste using bio-CNG trucks and manages it to produce clean fuel through a 360-degree waste management approach.

Chakr Innovation was awarded for its technology to improve air quality with climate change co-benefits. Chakr Shield which is a retrofit solution that captures up to 90% Particulate Matter (PM) from Diesel Generator(DG) thereby reducing the black carbon emissions to the atmosphere and improving the quality of air. The device is installed over the exhaust pipe of the DG that captures the exhaust and cools it to cause agglomeration of the soot particles. These soot particles, which primarily consist of PM, are collected as raw material for making inks and paints for use in merchandise.

The award event was followed by the launch of the Climate Solver Hub, a virtual interactive platform to bring together the key stakeholders of the clean energy ecosystem- innovators, corporates and the investors. The hub is an exclusive platform for the Climate Solver innovators in India with an objective to strengthen the climate innovation entrepreneurial ecosystem. The Hub aims to create a platform for innovators to showcase their technology, and network with potential investors, as well as for investors and corporates to discover, finance and adopt innovations by SMEs in the clean energy space. If this works well it can be a pilot ahead of a global hub or marketplace where we create an ecosystem around high impact innovations.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Ravi Singh, Secretary General & CEO, WWF-India, said, “The Climate Solver platform showcases innovative climate solutions emerging from the SME sector from across different regions of the country. While these solutions have potential to reduce global GHG emissions, they also address key local environmental challenges. These awards, together with the launch of the climate solver virtual platform for knowledge-sharing and collaboration amongst different stakeholders, will help in strengthening and broad-basing the cleantech ecosystem in the country.”

In his address, Sh. C. K. Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, Govt. of India said, “India is a crucial player in the journey to combat climate change and SMEs play a critical role in it. However, global learning and local solutions are the key with solutions emerging from within the country itself. It is imperative to reward and encourage SMEs, and for the government to create a conducive ecosystem to help them scale up. The narrative is to work together towards development and ecology conservation for which the government and industry must work in collaboration.”

Leader of the Climate solver programme Mr Stefan Henningsson highlighted four things in his remark: the new IPCC 1.5 report and the Exponential Climate Action Roadmap (proof points from Climate Solver used in this) both show that a first halving of global emissions is necessary and feasible by approximately 2030. The new 2-year collaboration with Mission Innovation, Climate-KIC, Carbon Trust, Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), Clean Energy International Incubation Centre in India and Swedish Energy Agency, on a framework for assessing avoided emissions in order to accelerate high impact innovation that was launched the same day - CII-ITC Centre of Excellence or Sustainable Development is one of the strategic partners. And the first global Climate & Energy Accelerator guidebook - Accelerate This with support from WWF, World Bank, Asia Development Bank and UK Aid that now is ready to download from Amazon - lead by New Energy Nexus and includes input from Sangam Ventures, Infuse Ventures as well as another 70+ accelerators from around the world.

Climate Solver partners in India are the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), New Ventures India, Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (IIM Ahmedabad), Indian Angel Network, National Innovation Foundation and Technology Development Board (Department of Science and Technology, Government of India).